EFAS President - EFAS Congress 2024

Dear EFAS Members,

It is a great honor and joy for me to serve as your President of EFAS.
I experience EFAS as a large family where each of us has our place and importance.

In recent years, EFAS has achieved a leading position within the international "Foot and Ankle Community." Today, it is recognized as the most dynamic and largest international foot and ankle society worldwide.

Over the past two years, as "President-Elect," I have worked closely with Kris Buedts. We shared some responsibilities and collaboratively developed others, such as the forum program for "Pediatrics, Trauma, Diversity, and Diabetes."

I am fully aware of the responsibility that the EFAS presidency entails. This is precisely why I am deeply committed to leading EFAS to continued success with you as its members.

The diversity of cultures and languages within EFAS is one of its greatest strengths, and I aim to connect my vision and goals for EFAS to this unique aspect:

• We can inspire and train our younger members by involving experienced colleagues from many European countries. The different committees will play a key role in this.
• We will maintain the existing fellowship programs and enhance them with new international initiatives.
• We will further expand the European "Foot and Ankle" certificate's significance internationally.
• Collaboration with other societies in our field, such as ESKA, MIFAS, IBRA, or the "Wound Healing Society," has already begun, and we will intensify these efforts.
• We will professionalize our website and our presence on various social media platforms.
• Another key goal is to establish standardized examination and evaluation scores within EFAS to facilitate their use in future multicenter studies.
• Enhance the visibility of our newly founded humanitarian committee and make it a signal of our mission as leading society in Foot and Ankle Treatment.

At this point, I would like to express my gratitude to all board members and especially to my predecessor, Kris Buedts, for their tireless commitment to the welfare of EFAS.

Sincerely,
Manfred Thomas

EFAS President (2024-2026)